Watch & pray - The Spirit is Willing

Watch and pray: that you enter not into temptation..... the Spirit is Willing

Have you ever wanted to do right and yet there was no strength to do it? Jesus was once in that position. He needed to face the cross but somehow in the garden of Gathsemane, he asked God to perhaps consider another alternative. Thank God, he saw himself in the picture and added "Not my will, but Thy will be done".

On checking on his disciples, he exhorts them the same thing that just occurred in his place of prayer saying

"Watch ye and pray, that ye may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is forward, but the flesh weak" Mark 14:38 (YLT)

the 1969 Bible in Basic English version (BBE) puts it like this:

"Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test; the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble."

With a totally malfunctioning society, there was never a time that the flesh has more resources to increase its weakness and lead us to death and total enmity with God - Romans 8:5-8. We are bombarded daily with information that we kill our spiritual nature and open up death in the flesh. Therefore the call, Watch and pray.

You have done well to have a willing spirit but it will not suffice if you don't watch over your spirit.

In Malachi 2:14-15, God instructs the Jews to WATCH OVER THEIR SPIRIT. Because it has more enemies on the outside than friends.

Beloved, the instruction is still the same. Watching unto prayer. Keep vigil over your soul that we may be presentable to our God any day, any time under any condition.

http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2002/Watch_and_Pray.html

God bless.

Six reasons every believer should pray in tongues

1. One of the basic benefits of being a believer
Mark 16:17 - "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues".
Jesus was not necessarily saying your native dialect is going to change but that your new man should acquire a new language for communication. Is there any reason why a believer would not want any of the signs in Mark 16:16-18?


2. Bypassing your mind in prayer is sometimes very essential
1 Cor 14:14 - "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."
Praying in tongues causes a child of God to communicate spiritual mysteries without even his mind understanding what he is saying. This is beneficial for a very important reason - No one can speak outside his understanding and as long as our mind is hindered by our physical dimension, our petitions will remain so. Praying in tongues therefore enables a physical man on earth to speak beyond the expected dimension of his mind and speak in the realms of the mind of Christ.


3. To identify the things God has freely given.
1 Cor 2:11- 14 says
"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
The scripture is quite explanable. A good reference to explain things would be Adam who had to name all living creatures that came before him. He needed the understanding or intelligence of the physical to do that. In like manner, we need the perfect wisdom of the spiritual to identify, name or appropriate for our profit the things not seen (spiritual). The bible tells us that they are freely given and somehow its like the things that are freely given are those we struggle to get.


4. Building up your most holy faith
Jude 20 says "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost".
The precendence to this verse actually described a lot of decadence that was creeping in the world of then. Our own generation's depth of decay surely thrumps their of course. But it is worthy of note that no matter how dark our world is, God's expectation of growth and fruits from us is not compromisable. Therefore as the world around us (from the internet, TV, music, fashion, lifestyle) grows downwards, our faith must be built up. But still we don't know what we are up against. Therefore, our prayer must be in the Holy Ghost who helps our infirmities and intercedes for us in our weaknesses.


5. The spirit is willing
Matthew 26:14 - "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak".
The spirit is willing to go the way of it source - the giver of its life. The flesh also is seeking to go in the direction of its material - dust. Incidentally we are a house of both. Hence, it is our actions that determine we direction our lives would go. The spirit unto life or the flesh unto death. Praying in tongues especially by a person who is filled with the word of Christ by study and meditation gives his willing spirit strength in the sure times of temptation. And remember Proverbs 24:10 says "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small".

6. You live in the spirit - you should also talk in the spirit.
Gal 5:16 says "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh"
Gal 5:25 says "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit"
John 4:24 says "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth"
Acts 20:22 says "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there"
John 11:33 - "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled"
Seeing that there are a lot of spiritual expressions that a spiritual man could make, praying in the spirit could not be out of the list. Also remember that praying in the spirit is a strong connotation of praying in tongues as described in 1 Cor 14:2 - "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries"

I may not have put down all the possible reasons so I would encourage anyone reading this to add some more to the list (by commenting on the article) for us all to learn. Only try not to repeat points.

God bless.